Ann Marie Clarke

Ann Marie “Annie” Clarke was born in Georgetown, Guyana on Wednesday, September 13th 1961 to her beloved mother Marjorie Laura Benjamin and father Clifford Henry Clarke. She spent 23 years in Guyana until she decided to travel to America to create a better life for her and her then 7 month old daughter.

Ann Marie immigrated to Brooklyn, New York in November of 1983 with $80.00 and a vision of creating a brighter future for herself and her daughter. She enrolled in New York City College of Technology and worked as an au-pair and housekeeper to pay her way through school. In 1993, she was admitted to the Long Island College Hospital Nursing School in Brooklyn, New York. This was a significant accomplishment that she was immensely proud of. There she earned her Associates degree in Nursing and immediately started her career as an Oncology nurse at the Long Island College Hospital where she worked for 10 years. She loved her career and was proud that she could use her life to heal others. Not only did she love what she did but she also loved the people who she was fortunate enough to work with.

As passionate as she was about her work she was even more passionate about her family. Ann Marie was a single mother who devoted her life to creating a better life with endless opportunities for her daughter. In that spirit, she worked hard and saved so that she was able to travel with her daughter and show her what opportunities existed outside of their neighborhood in Brooklyn. In2001, she saved up enough money to purchase her first house in New Windsor, New York. In that same year, she was fortunate enough to be able to see her daughter graduate from high school and take her to college; another proud moment in her life.

When Ann Marie wasn’t working or spending time with her daughter she enjoyed travelling and reading and listening to music. Places that she has been include New York City, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C, Miami, Virginia Beach, Phoenix, Las Vegas, California, Catalina Island, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Dominica, St. Maarten, and the Grand Canyon (twice.) In her lifetime Ann Marie has read thousands of books, that was where she found her refuge. Her favorite genres were romance novels and spiritual enlightenment. When she was not reading she could be found listening and dancing to the tunes of some of her favorite musicians such as Sparrow, Lord Kitchener, Calypso Rose, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, Earth Wind and Fire and the Gap Band.

Ann Marie was full of life and love and she used her life to bring joy to the lives of others. She was a faithful servant of God until the very day that she was called home……

She is survived by her only child Candace Archer.

Arrangements under the direction of Valley of the Sun Mortuary & Cemetery, Chandler, AZ.